Two years into the Buhari presidency, presidential and cabinet officials,<\/p>\n
including the president himself, are still gives excuses and blaming the
\nprevious government and the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) for their woes
\nand inability to deliver on the many promises they made to Nigerians many
\nof which they have themselves forgotten.<\/p>\n
Rather than take responsibility for leadership and get down to the
\nbusiness of fixing Nigeria, President Buhari, his aides and their party,
\nthe All Progressives Congress (APC) have continued to blame the PDP,
\nformer President Jonathan, internal sabotage and any other thing they can
\nplace their hands on. Now they are blaming falling oil prices, as though
\nthey do not understand the dynamic nature of the global oil economy. Oil
\nprices, like for other commodities, will always rise and fall.<\/p>\n
When the Buhari government was inaugurated in May 29, 2015, power supply
\nwas at an all time high. Gasoline was available everywhere and sold for
\nabout N93\/litre. Road construction projects were ongoing in every part of
\nthe country. Things were truly looking very good.<\/p>\n
At that time, rather than commend the Jonathan government, Buhari\u2019s men
\nset out to coin the term \u2018body language\u2019. They attributed the improved
\npower supply, the availability of gasoline, promptness in airline
\nscheduling and many others to President Buhari\u2019s body language. It did not
\nmatter that Buhari had not done anything tangible in any sector of the
\nNigerian economy.<\/p>\n
For them, there was a new sheriff in town! He didn\u2019t need to do anything.
\nNigeria would work by him just being there.<\/p>\n
Nigerians are tired of General Buhari and his many excuses and they are
\nexpressing themselves loudly and clearly. The renewed clamour against
\nGeneral Buhari\u2019s inefficiency and failure has become a rigorous bipartisan
\ncampaign. Even former diehard supporters of President Buhari have joined
\nthe mass of millions of Nigerians who are telling President Buhari to his
\nface that his government has failed Nigerians.<\/p>\n
Frontline members of the 2015 pro-Buhari movement are now coming out in
\ndroves to say to Mr. President \u201cwe are disappointed and disillusioned with
\nyour government\u201d. Many of them have expressed regret in voting for
\nPresident Buhari and have even asked for forgiveness from those who they
\nlured into the Buhari nest.<\/p>\n
The reason for the failure of the Buhari presidency is not far fetch and
\nthe government should stop misleading Nigerians.<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as President of the Federal
\nRepublic of Nigeria on May 29, 2015.<\/p>\n
Rather than settle down and hit the ground running, President Buhari began
\nan international tour visiting a record 22 countries within a space of 6
\nmonths! \u2026at a time when he had neither an executive cabinet or an economic
\nteam!<\/p>\n
President Buhari was running a rudderless government with no stated
\nmission and vision plan.<\/p>\n
When Nigerians made their worries known, President Buhari, in his usual
\ntaciturnity, replied that Ministers were noisemakers. And so he continued
\nto gallivant around the world visiting countries where in most cases, the
\nministers of that host country received him at the airport.<\/p>\n
And so for 7 whole months, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and her
\ncitizens sat still in wait for President Buhari to appoint his team of
\nministers.<\/p>\n
The frightening state of the Nigerian economy and the grim disillusion in
\nthe land today is a product of those 7 months of presidential gallivanting
\nand executive carelessness on the part of President Buhari and those who
\nadvised him to mistreat and maltreat Nigeria and Nigerians in such a
\nmanner.<\/p>\n
Let us consider the case of Barack Obama
\nso that we can understand why successful presidents make their countries
\nsuccessful.<\/p>\n
As at December 13, 2008, about a month after he won the US Presidential
\nelection of November 2008, President-elect Barack Obama cabinet list was
\nready. It was an assemblage of his various policy teams.<\/p>\n
President-elect Obama understood the dare straits that the American
\neconomy was in. He also knew that the United States needed to fine-tune
\nits foreign and domestic policy to contain growing hostility to US
\ninterests across the world, strengthen international trade and bring
\nprosperity to all Americans.<\/p>\n
And so President-elect Obama set out to build his foreign policy team
\naround Hillary Rodham Clinton (Wellesley, Yale Law), Jim Steinberg
\n(Harvard, Yale Law) and Susan Rice (Stanford, Oxford DPhil).<\/p>\n
His domestic policy team was built around Jason Furman (Harvard, Harvard
\nPhD), Austen Goolsbee (Yale, MIT PhD), Blair Levin (Yale, Yale Law), Peter
\nOrszarg (Princeton, London School of Economic PhD) and of course White
\nHouse Counsel Greg Craig (Harvard, Yale Law).<\/p>\n
The Obama economic policy team, which had been formed, in the last week of
\nNovember, was built around New York Federal Reserve President, Timothy
\nGeithner, Christina Romer (MIT. PhD) and Larry Summers, President Emeritus
\nand Charles W. Elliot Professor of Harvard University.<\/p>\n
Between 1999 and 2001, Summers had served as US Treasury secretary. He was
\nto head the National Economic Council while Christina Romer was to serve
\nas Chairperson, Council of Economic Advisers.<\/p>\n
In late 2008, it was Romer along with fellow economic advisors Larry
\nSummers and Peter R. Orszag who presented then President-elect Barack
\nObama with recommendations for a stimulus package. Romer calculated that a
\n$1.8-trillion package was necessary to fill the output gap, but Summers
\nrejected the proposal and opted not to include it in the memo fearing that
\na trillion-dollar package would not pass through Congress.<\/p>\n
The Obama administration ultimately passed an $800-billion Stimulus package.<\/p>\n
In February 17, 2009, barely a month after he was inaugurated as the 44th
\nPresident of the United States of America, The Stimulus Act 2009 (a
\nstimulus package) was enacted into law to reinvigorate the US economy and
\nprevent or reverse a recession by boosting employment and spending.<\/p>\n
\nA few things stood out about the Obama team. First, they were all
\nopen-minded individuals who are persuadable by evidence. Secondly they
\nwere admired professionals. Thirdly, they were not excessively partisan
\nand finally, they were people with practical creativity.<\/p>\n
\nNot so with President Buhari and the team he eventually put together after
\nputting Nigerians through vain months of wait.<\/p>\n
The Buhari administration inherited a Nigeria that was the largest economy
\nin Africa. It inherited a Nigeria that had been declared polio-free by the
\nWorld Health Organization. It inherited a country that on the verge of
\nagricultural sufficiency.<\/p>\n
Today all that is reversing. Nigeria has fallen back behind South Africa
\nas Africa\u2019s largest economy. Polio has returned to Nigeria. For more than
\none year, almost every progress we made in the agricultural sector has
\ncollapsed.<\/p>\n
A country that had reached the point of rice sufficiency and was talking
\nof exporting rice is now talking of importing grass from Brazil to feed
\ncattle.<\/p>\n
A country that had begun to produce automobiles is now talking about
\nmanufacturing pencils.<\/p>\n
No government in the history of Nigeria has shot itself in the foot like
\nthe Buhari presidency. Luckily for them, there is currently little or no
\nopposition to the wanton recklessness that the Buhari presidency has
\nbrought into the governance and administration of Nigeria. Nigeria is
\ntoday being run like some feudal hegemony.<\/p>\n
The promise of change has suddenly turned to a Change of promises.<\/p>\n
They promised Nigerians that the will fix all our refineries and lower the
\ncost of gasoline. Today they have increased the price of gasoline by
\nalmost a hundred percent.<\/p>\n
They promised to fix the power sector and restore uninterrupted power
\nsupply but today power infrastructures are shutting down across the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
They promised to build more roads for Nigerians but one year after, not
\none new road have been completed by the APC government even the roads that
\nwere at at various stages of completion by the former PDP government.<\/p>\n
APC accused the PDP of crippling Nigerians with an exchange rate of N170
\nto the dollar. Today, under APC\u2019s rule, the Naira (N) trades to the dollar
\n($) at N400 to the dollar!<\/p>\n
And so this brings us to the question. Where is the PDP, which once touted
\nitself as the largest political party in Nigeria?<\/p>\n
Why is the PDP allowing the APC to sojourn on a reckless free ride and get
\naway with it?<\/p>\n
What has happened to constructive opposition?<\/p>\n
It is time for the PDP to rise up to the occasion and give APC a run for
\nits money. It is suddenly dawning on Nigerians that APC came to power very
\nunprepared.<\/p>\n
The President continues to earn for himself more unprintable names every
\nday. The legislature stands with wobbly feet even as APC members trade
\nblames and counter accusations at themselves.<\/p>\n
Dissension, frustration and disappointment continue to grow across the
\nland. The judiciary is not happy with the insults it continues to receive
\nfrom the Executive. All is not well.<\/p>\n
All is also not well with the PDP. Two of PDP\u2019s top spokespeople, Olisah
\nMetuh and the maverick Femi Fani-Kayode are having running battles with
\nthe Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of
\nfraud even as there are many who see this as a political witch hunt of the
\nparty\u2019s top officials.<\/p>\n
Nigerians are waiting to see who will the new drivers and arrowheads of
\nwhat was once the largest political party in the land. The story of a next
\ngeneration PDP is everywhere. The buzz of the upcoming PDP convention
\nscheduled for Port Harcourt has pushed forward names of smart young people
\nwho are gearing up to take charge of the administration of the emerging
\nPDP.<\/p>\n
Who knows, the loss the party suffered in 2015 might just be the tonic it
\nneeds to find its foot again.<\/p>\n
In its near role as an opposition party at the Federal level, the PDP must
\nlearn to do things differently from the APC. They must not lie to
\nNigerians the way that the APC lied to Nigerians. They must be truthful to
\nNigerians when they begin to reel out campaign promises.<\/p>\n
The emerging PDP must bring together the smartest and most creative people
\nin the land and form a shadow cabinet that will take on the APC issue for
\nissue. Capable leaders must be scouted for to take over positions of
\nleadership. The mistakes of the past must be used to correct the progress
\nmarch into the future. Nothing must be taken for granted.<\/p>\n
Nigerians deserve better.<\/p>\n
George Kerley<\/p>\n
georgekerley@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two years into the Buhari presidency, presidential and cabinet officials, including the president himself, are still gives excuses and blaming the previous government and the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n